The first part of GGK’s Sarantine Mosaic. After a plague kills his wife and daughters Crispin is “sailing to Sarantium”; a talented artist he feels life is no longer worth living but fate and chance conspire to send him on a journey. The people he meets along the way and the dangers of life in a world that is changing — politically and in questions about faith and heresy are crafted as intricately as a piece of artwork. Kay is a wonderful writer. ( )

Disappointed...: Guy Gavriel Kay came very highly recommended, so I was quite excited about reading the first book in the duology. Doubly so because I've always been fascinated by the Roman and Byzantine Empires, and Sarantium is Byzantium with the serial numbers filed off.

Others have mentioned the very long, and I have to say insufferable, introduction. It was exceedingly long and tedious, but I persevered as I have something very rare these days, an actual attention span. Even though the introduction becomes relevant later on it could easily have been cut down to four or five pages.

When we meet the main character I have some sympathy for him, I think he's a bit of a jerk, and your typical "reluctant hero". Nevertheless the machinations in the beginning of the story are somewhat interesting. The reasons why he finally accepts the offer to go to Sarantium is also fairly well played, as is the visit to the alchemist.

I found it tedious, but I will grant that it was in a sense well written.

It's hard to give more details without spoiling the story but I will say that the hero struck me as an insufferable moron. Yes the character is consistent; he was consistently a moron whose sharp tongue got him into a lot of trouble. His supposed wit only seemed to get him out of problems that his own stupidity had gotten him into.

However that's not necessarily a deal killer, once more that's fairly stereotypical. So is the fact that the hero has lost his entire family in the plague (I'm not really giving anything away, it's revealed very early on). I could live with that.

The problem is that I don't care about the main character, he keeps talking about his grief. He doesn't sleep with a young woman because of it. However I don't *feel* any grief, I don't feel like I'm watching someone who is deeply in grief.

Likewise the young woman (whose name I shan't reveal to avoid spoilers) doesn't feel real either. She's the Suffering Young Woman and the Victim, yes her sob story is described from her point of view, her being unable to go home, etc. It's presented in such a dispassionate way that I find it very hard to *care* about any of it.

The only character that actually seemed to come alive was the hero's bodyguard. His thoughts, actions, and behaviour seemed very realistic, and it was possible to relate to them.

Even if you disregard the characters the book isn't even all that exciting, we're constantly told that they can never recover from an incident on their journeys. I just didn't feel any grandeur, or mystery, or power about the incident or the aftermath. The fog and the crazy cultists were reminiscent of a cheap slasher film, nothing more cerebral than that.

All too often we see things like "And that is why I want you to do this" or "And that sent a chill down his spine," followed by an infodump to make us understand *why* this was such a horrible thing. As examples I offer the Zubir and the Empress' dolphins, neither of them inspired the awe and worry they should have.

The plot bounces up and down the chronology, and between points of view, like a deranged jackrabbit. Over and over again we get a scene, then we skip back in time to a different character, and see his or her perspective on the events leading up to the scene. Sometimes we're then shown that the scene is really something *quite different*! The first time this happened it was alright, the second it was a little annoying, the third, and fourth, and so on times...

Well it got very, very annoying, very fast. Nor was it effective as a story telling device.

Then there's the Jadite faith, which is meant to stand in for Christianity. I'm suppose to care about the different sects and beliefs thereof, or at least see why they're important. I don't. Mainly because the portrayal of religion is so shallow and half-hearted that I can't be bothered. I mean Harry Turtledove of all people did a better job of portraying religious and sectarian strife in his Basil Agyros / Agent of Byzantium series! And that is a series of cheap action spy thrillers set in an alternate Byzantium!

Perhaps it's worse for me since I recognised all of the Byzantine, sorry Sarantian, characters, and I know exactly what incidents he's referring to (and yes all the important Sarantians are based on equivalent historic figures, up to and including the charioteer). Perhaps I'm not able to enjoy it because I'm aware of what tribes and pagan gods he's referring to. Perhaps I'm troubled because I recognise where the Jadite faith comes from (a mixture of Sol Invictus and Mithraism unless I miss my bet).

Thing is that sort of knowledge should *increase* my enjoyment of the book.

One quick note, some people complain that the charioteering factions in Sarantium are too simplistic. That's unfair, since Guy Gavriel Kay ripped them off wholesale from Byzantium, it may be simplistic but, hey, worked for the real Byzantines. Beside how sophisticated are modern day sports fans?

Overall I didn't like this book much, and when I finished it I decided I wouldn't bother to get the sequel. Quite frankly I don't care *what* happens next.

Two stars for getting all the grammar right, and for good research. Not recommended.

Summary: To say a person is "sailing to Sarantium" is to mean that they are at a turning point in their life, heading towards a reshaping, and a future of consequence. For Sarantium is the holy city, center of the world, beloved of god, the seat of beauty, wealth, refinement, and power. Crispin, a mosaicist from the Western reaches of Sarantium's influence, is summoned by the Emperor of Sarantium to leave behind his home, the graves of his wife and daughters, and to come to the City to consult on a mosaic so large that it dwarfs imagination. However, the message comes to late for him to take ship, and so he must journey overland, through a world of the old gods who have not entirely submitted to Sarantine rule, and if he survives that, he must still face the intrigues and politics of the most powerful players in the City itself.

Review: Sailing to Sarantium falls about in the middle of pack of Guy Gavriel Kay's work that I've read so far, although I'm reserving final judgement until I read the sequel, Lord of Emperors. It's clear that he's setting up quite a lot of elements in the first book that are going to pay off later, and I'm certainly interested to see where it all leads. However, that same "setting up" comprised much of my problems with this book. In other series/trilogy/duologys, even in Kay's earlier work, each book has its own arc while still fitting into the overall storyline. Here, however, there are few or no pay-offs, and everything feels like it's set-up. This had the effect of distancing me from the work - Kay's been good at making me cry in the past, but I wasn't emotionally involved in the work this time at all. I was still absorbed in the book, and it was compulsively readable, but being intellectually interested in what happens next is not the same as emotional involvement with the characters. It's not through any fault of the writing or characterization, though - Kay's writing is as flawless and as resonant as ever, and his characters are so much like real people that it feels as though you've met them already. I think my problem was entirely with the pacing... which, if the second book pans out, isn't really a problem at all. 4 out of 5 stars.

Recommendation: Engagingly and beautifully written, but not enough happened to make this one of Kay's better works - at least not on its own merits. It's good enough that I'm absolutely going to read the sequel, and I've got no doubts that it will redeem my reservations about this one. ( )

Whenever I talk about why I love Kay's books, I always talk about the elegance of his writing style. I feel there is no other word that describes the way he can turn a phrase, or how he can weave past and present tense together in a story to give greater meaning to people or events.

Sailing to Sarantium was the first book of Kay's that I read, and I, like other reviewers, wondered a bit at the slow pacing of the beginning. This book truly comes alive during subsequent readings, when one can put all the puzzle pieces together at the beginning and see the foreshadowing of what is to come. ( )

An artisan undertakes a journey to the most celebrated city in the world.

I've read this book twice now. The first time through, I was struck by the feel Kay manages to create. This isn't a happy book, by any means, but I always felt entirely comfortable in the world. The setting, (an alterante version of 6th century Byzantium and its surrounding environs), was so well drawn that I never felt as though I were reading fantasy. There are many parallels with real historical places that help add veracity to the text. As an art historian, I was particularly delighted with Varena, (this world's Ravena equivalent), and with the differences between Eastern and Western mosaics. The whole thing felt so real that when the fantastical elements did appear I, like Crispin, initially assumed they were slight-of-hand.

I was also very impressed with Kay's talent for character. That first time, I found that I didn't feel particularly strongly about any of these people... but I did feel like I knew them through and through. They're remarkably well delineated. Kay manages to quickly and fully convey just who a person is with a few well-placed background details and some telling dialogue.

So I was very, very impressed after my first reading. I promptly went out and acquired the rest of Kay's bibliography, and I consider it one of the best literary decisions I've ever made.

This second time, though... well, it utterly trumped my first reading. Some books, some stories, are just better when you know what's coming. I found myself noticing much, much more. I could see the groundwork Kay laid for the next volume, and many times I found myself in tears just thinking of where all this was leading. I discovered that I did, in fact, feel strongly for all these peple. I found myself in awe of the way Kay had layered each individual element, placing small pieces of each story into the larger whole to create a literary mosaic of surprising depth and beauty.

I really cannot recommend this book highly enough. It's far from action-packed, but those who enjoy character-based stories and intricate settings should find it more than worthwhile. ( )